New bike - up to £1K **On Finance**

will_85

Im about to start a new job which will involve an 11 mile round commute 5 days a week. Travel expenses would be in excess of £100 a month, so im looking at buying a new bike on finance, up to around £1K / £100 a month with the intention of being motivated to make the journey each day by bike.

I am using the new job as an opportunity to make some changes to my lifestyle, im not massive by any means, but definitely need to loose some weight & I'm looking at entering the L2B next year, possibly some other charity orientated events too. The bike will be predominately used for the commute, but also for leisure rides on my days off - im currently doing so at around 15 miles, but am looking to build upon that progressively.

Ive been eying up the Ribble pro-evo Carbon with Tiagra set up for a smidge under £900 - seems amazing value?

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/bbd/road- ... BRC&bike=1

Also the Cannondale Caad8 is an option:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec042914

Would love the specialized tarmac sport, but its a bit over budget, not sure I can justify the cost, given the riding I currently do? Feel free to persuade me otherwise

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec040972

What are your opinions on the above bikes? Or what else would be a worth while consideration at this price point, remembering it will need to available on finance?

markhewitt1978

It's easy to forget sitting in the summer heat that winters in the UK go on for a long long time. And you're going to want to be able to continue to commute, even in the depths of January.

So you need to be making sure that it has fittings and sufficient clearance for mudguards, what about clearance for wider tyres in the winter.

Is your commute all on road? What happens when it snows? Would you be able to fit ice tyres?

Remember this is a commuter, so the requirements are often quite different from your summer weekend bike. 5.5 miles each way is doable on just about any bike, but you need one which will do the 11 miles day in, day out.

will_85

Commute will be all road, central London.

I intend to use my current bike for when the weather isn't great, or possibly selling the current bike & buying a hybrid for the winter months. As much as anything, im using the new job / commute as a viable excuse to splash out on a new bike, rather than it being a complete necessity, though financially, it clearly has its merits.

pitchshifter

CAAD8 105 or CAAD10 105 wouldn't go wrong with either.

gabriel959

will_85 wrote:

Commute will be all road, central London.

I intend to use my current bike for when the weather isn't great, or possibly selling the current bike & buying a hybrid for the winter months. As much as anything, im using the new job / commute as a viable excuse to splash out on a new bike, rather than it being a complete necessity, though financially, it clearly has its merits.

Personally I would want to buy a bike that has got the possibility of installing full mudguards and may be a rack if you want to ride in all weather (minus snow and ice) so I would go for one of the following:

Dolan Preffisio
http://www.dolan-bikes.com/index.php/ro ... -bike.html

Kinesis T2 (with carbon fork!)
http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/573237/produc ... 3godz3EAzg

Tifosi CK7
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/tifosi-ck7-audax-veloce-2013/

If you are prepared to spend more than a grand I would be looking at the Condor Fratello which is steel so a nicer ride.

http://www.condorcycles.com/Audax-Commu ... e.tpl.html

alan_sherman

Use you current bike and save up?

Seriously - you will work out what you would prefer for your ride. And get through the probation period of the new job. Seems an odd choice to take on more debt when you already have a bike.

Spend some money on things like lights and riding gear to enable you to ride comfortably when the weather is rubbish.

noiseboyfeetman

gabriel959 wrote:

Personally I would want to buy a bike that has got the possibility of installing full mudguards and may be a rack if you want to ride in all weather (minus snow and ice) so I would go for one of the following:

Dolan Preffisio
http://www.dolan-bikes.com/index.php/ro ... -bike.html

Kinesis T2 (with carbon fork!)
http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/573237/produc ... 3godz3EAzg

Tifosi CK7
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/tifosi-ck7-audax-veloce-2013/

If you are prepared to spend more than a grand I would be looking at the Condor Fratello which is steel so a nicer ride.

http://www.condorcycles.com/Audax-Commu ... e.tpl.html

I'd second what he said. I used to have a Bianchi Via Nirone as my commuter until it got knobbed, the Tifosi CK7 which replaced it is much better suited to the task. Personally i'd say a bike that can take full mudguards is a must for a full time commuter bike. The CK7 is a decent bike, bit of a marmite look though which its retro styling whereas the Kinesis has a much broader appeal, there are some really nice looking Kinesis's in the "your bikes" section.